Bennett County, South Dakota
| Bennett County, South Dakota | |
|---|---|
 Location in the U.S. state of South Dakota |
|
 South Dakota's location in the U.S. |
|
| Founded | 1912 |
| Named for | John E. Bennett or Granville G. Bennett |
| Seat | Martin |
| Largest city | Martin |
| Area | |
| • Total | 1,191 sq mi (3,085 km2) |
| • Land | 1,185 sq mi (3,069 km2) |
| • Water | 5.8 sq mi (15 km2), 0.5% |
| Population (est.) | |
| • (2015) | 3,423 |
| • Density | 2.9/sq mi (1/km²) |
| Congressional district | At-large |
| Time zone | Mountain: UTC-7/-6 |
Bennett County is a county located in the U.S. state of South Dakota. As of the 2010 census, the population was 3,431. Its county seat is Martin. The county was created in 1909 and organized in 1912. The northwestern section of the county lies within the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.
The North American continental pole of inaccessibility is in Bennett County, located 1650 km (1024 mi) from the nearest coastline, between Allen and Kyle (Oglala Lakota County) at 43°22′N 101°58′W / 43.36°N 101.97°W.
This land was for centuries traditional territory of the Oglala Lakota, also known as the Sioux. First included in the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, most of the county was removed from the reservation for 26 years after a 1910 act of the US Congress which "authorized and directed the Secretary of Interior to sell and dispose of all that portion of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, in the State of South Dakota, lying and being in Bennett County and described as follows: "...except for such portions therof as have been or may be hereafter allotted to Indians or otherwise reserved, and except lands classified as timber lands: Provided,..." The lands were allotted and Bennett County was opened for settlement. The event of "hereafter allot[ing]" lands occurred in the early 1900s. The boundaries of the future county were determined by the South Dakota state legislature in 1909. The United States participated only as amicus before the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals in Cook v. Parkinson, 525 F.2d 120 (8th Cir. 1975), a criminal case that discussed Bennett County as no longer being part of the Reservation. The United States is not bound by that decision because it did not participate in the litigation. The United States was a party in United States v. Bennett County, 394 F.2d 8 (8th Cir. 1968), in which the State of South Dakota had to obtain permission from the Department of Interior in order to fix roads or condemn property in Bennett County, consistent with the property's reservation status.
...
Wikipedia